God’s Word Translation
Exodus 7:16
16Say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to tell you, “Let my people go to worship me in the desert.” So far you have not listened.
Exodus 7:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
- New International Version (NIV)Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And you shall say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness." But so far, you have not obeyed.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear!
Context of Exodus 7:16
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh is being stubborn. He refuses to let my people go. 15In the morning meet Pharaoh when he’s on his way to the Nile. Wait for him on the bank of the river. Take along the staff that turned into a snake. Say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to tell you, “Let my people go to worship me in the desert.” So far you have not listened. 17Here is what the Lord says: This is the way you will recognize that I am the Lord: With this staff in my hand, I’m going to strike the Nile, and the water will turn into blood. 18The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’ ”
Read all of Exodus 7Exodus 7:16 word by word
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י הָעִבְרִים֙ שְׁלָחַ֤נִי אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר שַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־עַמִּ֔י וְיַֽעַבְדֻ֖נִי בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וְהִנֵּ֥ה לֹא־שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ עַד־כֹּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And thou shalt sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto him, The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- of the Hebrewsעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
- hath sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- Let my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- goשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: let goH7971
- that they may serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- me in the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- and, behold, hithertoכֹּהkôh · thusH3541
- thou wouldest not hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: obeyH8085
Cross-references for Exodus 7:16
- Exodus 3:18“The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the leaders must go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’
- Exodus 5:3They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t go, he may kill us with a plague or a war.”
- Exodus 9:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go to worship me.
- Exodus 10:3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself in my presence? Let my people go to worship me.
- 1 Samuel 4:6As the Philistines heard the noise, they asked, “What’s ⌞all⌟ this shouting in the Hebrew camp?” The Philistines found out that the Lord’s ark had come into the camp.
- Exodus 8:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me.
- Exodus 13:15When Pharaoh was too stubborn to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn male in Egypt—human and animal. This is why we sacrifice every firstborn male to the Lord and buy every firstborn son back from the Lord.’
- Exodus 14:5When Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their minds about them. They said, “What have we done? We’ve lost our slaves because we’ve let Israel go.”
- Isaiah 45:13I prepared Cyrus for my righteous purpose. I will make all his roads straight. He will build my city and let my exiles go free without any payment or any reward, says the Lord of Armies.
- Jeremiah 50:33This is what the Lord of Armies says: All the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. All their enemies have captured them. They refuse to let them go.
- Acts 4:21The authorities threatened them even more and then let them go. Since all the people were praising God for what had happened, the authorities couldn’t find any way to punish Peter and John.
- Exodus 3:12God answered, “I will be with you. And this will be the proof that I sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”
- Exodus 5:1Later Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Let my people go into the desert to celebrate a festival in my honor.”
Commentaries on Exodus 7:16
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-25Verses 14-25 Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-25The first plague was the plague on the Nile, when the whole river turned to blood (7:20). The Egyptians correctly understood that without the Nile there would be no life in Egypt. They worshiped the Nile as the Mother of Egypt, but God showed that life is his to give or withhold.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-251. the Lord said unto Moses--He is here encouraged to wait again on the king--not, however, as formerly, in the attitude of a humble suppliant, but now armed with credentials as God's ambassador, and to make his demand in a tone and manner which no earthly monarch or court ever witnessed. I have made thee a god--"made," that is, set, appointed; "a god"; that is, he was to act in this business as God's representative, to act and speak in His name and to…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 7:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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